Sophie twisted around to squint up at her.
“What did ye say?” she demanded.
Megan flushed. “I… nothin’. I was only talkin’ to meself.”
The little girl eyed her. “Talkin’ to yerself?”
“Aye, it’s a bad habit. Makes ye look mad.”
Megan pulled a face, sticking out her tongue. Sophie broke into a smile, giggling.
“Ye are ever so bonny, ye ken,” she added. “Nae right now, of course.”
How humbling,Megan thought wryly, uncrossing her eyes and pulling in her tongue. She felt the urge to giggle and bit the tip of her tongue to stay calm. She hadn’t yet secured herself with Sophie. There was still work to be done. The little girl was sweet and friendly, but she was also not stupid. Megan had a sense that Sophie would see straight through any lies or bluffs. Her trust, once lost, wouldn’t be so easily regained.
I find that I daenae want to lose her trust. Idaenaewish to disappoint her. I… I want her to like me. I feel like I did with me sisters, before they all found husbands and got tired of me.
Oh, that was unfair. Her sisters weren’t tired of her. They loved her. Still, when they were living far away in their fine keeps and castles, with adoring husbands and growing families, it was hard for Megan not to feel forgotten. She knew she was being selfish. She knew that she was being unfair.
And yet, the feeling was there, and would not quite go away.
They were weaving their way through high-ceilinged stone corridors, set out in a maze that would’ve gotten Megan lost in moments.
The Keep was cold and austere, with hardly any tapestries or paintings on the walls. There were no rugs or carpets, only endless stone flags. Their footsteps echoed as they scurried along, bouncing back from the walls.
They passed sentries here and there, soldiers who made no move to stop them, but whose eyes followed them all the way along the corridor. Megan could feel their eyes onherin particular, wondering who this young woman was who was escorting Lady Sophie.
She guessed that word of her presence would go around the Keep quickly. Gossip always flowed like water in a place like this. In fact, gossip was almost the lifeblood of a Keep. The laird rose above it, of course, but only a foolish ruler didn’t listen to the whisperings of his underlings.
Or so Ma had said, and she was generally right about those things.
They reached a narrow set of stone stairs, spiraling upward into a tower.
“Alaina and I sleep in the East Tower,” Sophie explained, hanging onto Megan’s hand as she tugged her upwards. “Ry used to sleep in another tower, but he moved his room here a few weeks ago. Alaina said that he only did it to keep an eye on her. She was very angry. I imagine you’ll be sleepin’ here too, as Ry said that it will be the Family Tower from now on. I like the idea of us all sleepin’ in the same tower, daenae ye?”
“Aye, I think so.”
The steps climbed up and up. Occasionally, they would reach a square landing with a window set into one side and a door set into the other. Megan tried to remember how tall the towers had been and guessed there was only room for one room per floor.
Sophie glanced over her shoulder, walking past yet another landing. Megan had counted at least six rooms so far, and the spiral staircase grew thinner and thinner. There were no panes of glass in the narrow windows of the stairs, and the air came in cold. In places, frost spider-webbed over the stone.
“Ye are nae out of breath,” Sophie remarked, sounding surprised. “When Flora comes up here, she puffs and pants. Of course, Floraisgoin’ to have a baby. Her belly is very big. It weighs her down sometimes.”
“I imagine that it does. Poor Flora. Well, I am nae pregnant, and I am used to a lot of exercise. I am used to stairs. I also run and jump a lot and ride a horse. If Flora is yer maid, she willnae have to do so much runnin’, I expect. And, as ye say, she is pregnant, so it isnae fair to expect her to have so much energy.”
Sophie nodded, accepting this. “Ye seem very strong.”
“Aye, too strong for a woman, I suppose,” Megan responded, biting back a sigh.
Sophie paused, turning around to frown at her.
“What do ye mean?”
Megan paused, frowning at the little girl, and wished she’d chosen her words more carefully. Sophie waited earnestly for her response, head tilted to one side, and Megan understood then that her answer was going to be important. Her answer would matter. It would beremembered.
“Well,” she began, as carefully as she could, “I only mean that softer, curvier women are considered beautiful. More beautiful, I should say. We are all beautiful in our own way. Every single person in the world is different, and that is fine. For example, I will tell ye about one of me sisters, Brigid. Brigid is a wonderful woman, and the finest sister I could want. As far as looks go, she’s beautifully plump, and men always fell all over her. Me sisters are all beautiful, of course, but I thought she was the prettiest. I always hoped to look like her, but I daenae. In fact, I couldnae be more different. I am all muscles and angles.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Sophie asked slowly, a line appearing between her brows.
